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“They have a great deal of intellectual affection and trust for each other. There are plenty of Republican presidents who really didn’t pay much heed to Lugar in the past, and here he’s got a president who’s going to make Nunn-Lugar one of his top priorities.”

One sign that Lugar will be a willing partner for Obama: Even as his Democratic colleague, Sen. Evan Bayh, broke with the president-elect in opposing the second round of bailout money, Lugar was one of only six Republicans to side with Obama.

3. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)

As he mulls a run for Obama’s old Senate seat in 2010, Kirk knows he won’t get an endorsement from the president-elect. Still, whether he runs for reelection to the House or for the Senate, political imperatives demand that he work productively with the Obama administration.

Kirk’s House district delivered 61 percent of the vote to Obama, giving him a strong incentive to play nice with the new president.

One of the leading centrists in the House — and one who has repeatedly won reelection in a Democratic-leaning district by emphasizing his independence from his national party — Kirk is already inclined to work across the aisle. As co-chairman of the Tuesday Group caucus, Kirk brings something to the table because he is well-positioned to rally other moderate Republicans on close legislation.

In an interview with Politico last month, Kirk said he hoped to work closely with Obama but that he also saw his role as a watchdog on the administration.

“The people of Illinois expect you to use your own judgment. They want you to work with the president wherever possible and hold members of his Cabinet accountable when needed,” Kirk said.

4. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio)

Despite calling Obama a “socialist” in the final weeks of the presidential campaign, Voinovich may find himself agreeing with the president-elect more often than not during his final two years in the Senate.

The Ohio senator, who announced he would retire in 2010, has often been a thorn in the GOP’s side, for opposing Republican-backed tax cuts and for his high-profile opposition to John Bolton’s nomination as ambassador to the United Nations. Now that Voinovich is in the final stage of a political career that spans more than 40 years, he will be completely liberated from pressures to conform to his party’s line.

Since his Jan. 12 retirement announcement, Voinovich has already voted with Obama on releasing the second round of bailout money, joining only five other Senate Republicans in support of the legislation. Despite his reputation as a fiscal hawk, Voinovich has said he is open to supporting Obama’s proposed stimulus package.

5. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)

Fresh off an election victory in which she touted her record of working across party lines, Collins has a chance to prove it.

She is one of the two most liberal Republican senators, according to 2007 National Journal ratings — the other is her Maine colleague, Sen. Olympia Snowe. And with Democrats just shy of the 60 seats necessary to block GOP filibusters, Collins will be one of the first Republicans Obama will look toward to break logjams.

She has already indicated that she’s eager to work with the new president on climate change and health care reform, and has chatted with Obama’s congressional budget adviser, Peter Orszag, about her legislative priorities.

“The people in my state are sick and tired of the hyperpartisanship and the gridlock that has blocked action on so many important issues that affect their lives directly,” Collins told The New York Times after her 2008 reelection. “The message from this campaign is a rebellion against excessive partisanship and a call for people to work together.”

Campaign Diaries wrote a similar analysis last week and found two moderate Republicans who could actually drift away from the center rather than towards it:

(1) Voinovich: Unions were hoping that the muscle they demonstrated in Ohio during the presidential election would force Voinovich to reconsider his opposition to EFCA (card-checks) to avoid their wrath in the 2010 midterms. But Voinovich is no longer running for re-election, so he can vote however he likes without having to think of the consequences of alienating labor. (2) Arlen Specter wants to prove his conservative bona fides to avoid being primaried in the spring of 2010 like he was in 2004.

Thanks but I have already got them on our list as "they've got to go". It will be part of our cleaning process that everyone says we need. Ah..there's nothing like a going away party for these 5, plus a few more (Specter).

Republicans have very good people in their ranks, some of them are moderates, not driven by ideology or partisanship they wanna get things done but threre's bad apples in their leadership (Cantor, McConnell, Boehner), quoting Sarah Palin: "one bad apple sometimes does kind of spoil the whole bunch, there's been some stinkers that have kind of made the whole basket full of apples there once in a while smell kind of bad." ... You betcha!!

Thanks but I have already got them on our list as "they've got to go". It will be part of our cleaning process that everyone says we need. Ah..there's nothing like a going away party for these 5, plus a few more (Specter).

I saw the Governor of Alaska on TV last night. She said we all should support the new President.

You left out a few turncoats! Lindsey Grahamnesty, Olympia Snowjob, Snarlen Spectacle, together with the bootlicker in chief, McAmnesty, will sell us down the river in short order. This bunch of moonbat ass kissers cannot wait to be in the first photo op with "The One" signing away trillions of OUR hard earned money, while systematically destroying the U S Constitution with more hair-brained legislation McAmnesty is so fond of walking across the aisle to bend over and grab his ankles for. Together with that epitome of ethical virtue, Dingy Harry Reid, and the barking moonbat, San Fran Nan, this country is in for one hell of a kick in the ass over the next two years!

He is going to need some help. There are some such as that Cronyn from Texas who have proved themselves to be dirty rotten lowlifes. Of course one could expect that from Texas. Look what just left the White House. Perhaps we should just give Texas back to Mexico. It would improve this nation a bit. Cronyn is going to vote against Clinton because of his just being a nasty person who will not cooperate in anything. He has shown this tendancy in the past and I am sure that Obama will never find him to be agreeable to anything.

Just how many times in the last eight years did those "non idelogical democrats" go along with Bush in the spirit of "bi-partisanship" to get things done? Does anyone remember the John Ashcroft confirmation hearings? HMMMMM?

No cynicism No anger No rage No rants No fuming No fighting No teeth-grinding No axe-grinding No finger-pointing No tut-tutting No bitterness No bloviating No bickering No *****ing No frustration No pettiness No worries No quibbles No quarrels No squabbles No seething No snipping No sniping No whining No wankery No regrets No fear No hate No agenda

Ha Ha! There was a joke the day after election day here in SC about Grahamnesty: People were inquiring as to why Graham wasn't in SC to give his acceptance speech but rather spent the time with McCain. It was said that he was seen jumping out of the bathroom window in McCcain's hacienda and hot-footing to the Capital eagerly trying to "work with" Obama. It's still a running (no pun intended) joke around here. Too bad we didn't vote him out and maybe next time we will have a better candidate running against him.